marine habitat

June 3 – Herring Industry’s Abuse of Resource is a Big Deal – Cape Cod Times writer Doug Fraser correctly reports that the activity of the industrial herring fleet is a very big deal for the other fishermen plying those waters. That’s because the massive nets of the herring trawl vessels once again blew through the quota for…

Cashes Ledge is exactly the type of habitat scientists say we should protect if we are to ever restore the grossly depleted Atlantic cod. But now, Cashes Ledge is at immediate risk of being opened to destructive bottom trawling. Cashes Ledge deserves protection. Please sign our petition asking NOAA to maintain protection for the entire Cashes Ledge area.

This week on Talking Fish, learn more about the need to protect cod habitat and take action to keep 3000 square miles of protected habitat closed to fishing; in Fish Talk in the News, the Senate attaches disaster relief funding to an appropriations bill and NOAA proposes measures to reduce marine mammal entanglement with fishing gear.

New England’s cod populations are at their lowest levels in history, thanks to decades of chronic overfishing and habitat destruction. Fisheries scientists agree that protecting vital fish habitat is key to restoring these once-plentiful fish species. How does the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) respond? Yesterday NOAA proposed to allow new bottom trawling and other forms of commercial fishing in areas of New England’s ocean that have been protected for almost twenty years.

This week on Talking Fish, 100 scientists and 70,000 citizens have asked NOAA to keep protected areas closed to fishing; we explain some of the reasons why keeping these areas closed is so important; Fish Talk in the News rounds up stories on elver, menhaden, river herring, shrimp, and more.

It could be surprising to many people that in our complex and amazing world of ocean animals there are several creatures known for displaying the type of deep affection and commitment of which only romance novelists can dream. Without a doubt, our own Atlantic Wolffish exhibits the special bond of love suitable for Cupid’s attention.

On August 21st, the Thai based energy company PTTEP announced that a “crude oil gas leak incident occurred” in the Timor Sea about 155 miles northwest of Western Australia. The energy company’s press released continued that “the size of the spill is not known. Aproximately 40 barrels of oil were discharged from the wellhead in…